She recalls the seductive qualities of the religion in comparison to her beginnings, growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and moving to Los Angeles to act. “We were sleeping on somebody’s floor and we had no money,” she tells Stern. “We were paying for scientology, trying to get on our feet, and yes, here you are. You’re in this beautiful building, when they bring you lunch, it’s on a tray. They have beautiful restaurants.”

Remini fires on all cylinders, addressing her rocky tenure on The Talk, the public feud with Sharon Osbournethat followed, and calls out host Howard Stern for allowing practicing Scientologist Kirstie Alley to make statements against Remini’s decision to leave the church in an interview on his show in January. However, the talk is sweetened in discussion on her early career when she auditioned for the role of Monica in Friends and speaks of the “instant chemistry” with her former TV husband Kevin James on The King of Queens.

Listen to Leah Remini’s full interview with Howard Stern in the player below.

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